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Well said.
In an effort for the ages, the San Antonio Spurs went to New Orleans and defeated the Hornets in Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Finals. After 48 grueling minutes, the Spurs grinded out a 91-82 victory in classic Spurs Basketball fashion.
The Spurs entered the game having been blown out in four straight times on the road against the Hornets. However, this one was different. San Antonio showed as much mental toughness as they’ve ever shown and kept the pesky Hornets at bay. The Spurs got up early, withstood a few major pushes by the Hornets and led by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, the Hornets had another run but the Spurs found a way to survive.
The Hornets deserve a huge amount of props for the way they played this series. For a team so young, they played just amazing basketball. Chris Paul is one of the top two or three basketball players on the planet. David West and Tyson Chandler are very good players. When not being guarded by Bruce Bowen, Peja Stojakovic played as well as he’s ever played in the postseason. In Game 7, the team’s inexperience finally caught up to them a bit. The Hornets were tight, their crowd was nervous and for the first time they actually looked like playoff newcomers. That said, New Orleans proved to the world that, barring injury, they’ll be in the championship equation for the next half decade.
When talking Spurs, usually your sentences begin and end with the Big Three. Though in this game, the story was different. It was the role players – the same role players who have been called too old, too unathletic and simply not good enough – that won Game 7 for the Spurs. The role players scored 32 points, pulled down 30 rebounds and shot 12-for-23 from the field and 8-for-17 from three-point land. With the Big Three shooting a combined 34% from the floor, the Spurs simply would not have gotten it done without timely performances from the role players.
Defensively, Game 7 was as good as the Spurs have played all year. San Antonio changed their defensive looks constantly and did so seamlessly. In the first three road games of the series, the Spurs had countless defensive breakdowns. In this game, the Spurs were almost flawless on that end of the court.
On the offensive end, it came down to hitting the open three-pointers. The Hornets had been leaving the three-point shooters all series and the Spurs made them pay.
Overall, it was a great win for the Spurs. The Spurs had never come back from losing the first two games of a series. The Spurs had never come back from a 2-3 deficit. The Spurs had never won a Game 7 on the road. I guess it’s time to update the annals of history.
-Tim Duncan didn’t play a great game but he did a good job of controlling the pace. After hitting 5-of-7 shots to begin the contest, Duncan missed his final ten shots. He also turned the ball over four times. However, Duncan deserves praise for his work defensively and the way he sprinted the court on both ends. Defensively, the Hornets didn’t get many easy shots – in large part to Duncan always being back on defense. Offensively, the Spurs ran a good portion of their sets through Duncan, and while he couldn’t buy a basket down the stretch, he was aggressive with both his moves and his passing. On the night, Duncan finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and three assists, while shooting 5-for-17 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line. The Spurs obviously need Duncan to play much better but he did enough to help get the Game 7 victory.
-Manu Ginobili, like Duncan, didn’t have a very pretty game but he was also key. He finished with 26 points, five rebounds and five assists, while shooting 6-for-19 from the field. Ginobili helped mostly with his three-point shooting (4-for-11) and his clutch free throw shooting down the stretch (10-for-11). In the second half, Ginobili was only 1-for-7 from the field, including misfiring on his final five attempts. Thankfully, Ginobili was able to produce at the free throw line and on the defensive end. Also like Duncan, Ginobili will need to up his level of play for the Spurs to win a championship. He was good enough in Game 7, however.
-Tony Parker quietly had a solid contest for San Antonio. He was hesitant and at times it appeared as if the pressure was getting the better of him. But when the Spurs needed him most, Parker stepped up. In the final 18 and a half minutes of the game, Duncan and Ginobili were a combined 0-for-12 from the field. In that time span, Parker was 4-for-8. With 50 seconds to go, Parker hit a jumper to extend the lead from three to five and the Spurs never looked back. That jumper by Parker was one of the biggest shots of his career and definitely the biggest shot of the night for San Antonio. Parker finished the night with 17 points, five assists, two rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot, while shooting 7-for-17 from the floor. Defensively, he was extremely impressive for much of the night. He could play better, much like Duncan and Ginobili, but on this night, Parker kept the Spurs afloat at the end of the game.
-Bruce Bowen had another successful game against Stojakovic. Stojakovic scored seven points on 3-for-11 shooting from the field, with much of the defensive credit going to Bowen. Stojakovic scored 47 points in the first two games when Bowen was on Paul. With Bowen on him in the final five games of the series, Stojakovic scored 43 points. Bowen’s success against Stojakovic might have been the biggest reason why the Spurs were able to come back and win the series. In Game 7, Bowen finished with six points, three rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot, while shooting 2-for-5 on three-pointers and 0-for-1 on two-pointers.
-I had a good feeling about Fabricio Oberto heading into this game and the Argentine bigman didn’t disappoint. Oberto played 32 minutes and finished with four points, nine rebounds and two assists, while hitting both of his shots from the field. He was far from spectacular but he played smart basketball and was steady throughout the contest. With as much as the Hornets were trapping, Oberto’s ability to pass the ball was a vital part of the Spurs winning four of the last five contests. Defensively, Oberto got better as the game went on. He still can’t really defend West – but luckily this series is over, thanks in large part to Oberto’s heady play.
-Ime Udoka officially became a Spur tonight. In the final four games of the series, Udoka become an instrumental cog in the Spurs machine. He basically transformed into the reincarnation of Mario Elie right before our eyes. In Game 7, Udoka wasn’t scared at all and was instead one of the most aggressive players on the court. He shot with confidence, he defended assertively and rebounded with fervor. On the night, Udoka finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while shooting 3-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc. Without Udoka stepping up in the final four games of this series, the Spurs would be fishing right now.
-Robert Horry. What can you say about this guy? He’s been ineffective basically the entire season and the entire playoffs but then Game 7 arrives and Horry plays the best game of his season. Amazing. This game is exactly why Pop will live with Horry shooting 18% from the floor. This game is why you can never really discount Horry. When you least expect it, he comes up huge. In 15 minutes, Horry scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and swiped a steal, while hitting 2-of-4 from the field – all from beyond the arc. His defense was by far the best we’ve seen out of him this season. Horry provided the Spurs with a smart, calm presence throughout his time on the court. The two three-pointers he hit were big shots at key parts of the game. Then again, that’s what Horry does.
-Michael Finley, the forgotten and oft criticized Spur, performed brilliantly in his 11 minutes of playing time. It was almost flawless basketball out of Finley, who scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and hit both of his shots, each from three-point range. When Duncan got in foul trouble in the third quarter and the Hornets got within eight points, it was a Finley three-pointer that got the Spurs rolling once again. I was also pleasantly surprised by the effort Finley gave on the boards. He rebounded with more tenacity than we’ve seen out of him in a long time. While Finley wasn’t on the court much, he was a big part of this game.
-Kurt Thomas only played seven minutes but he made the most of his time on the floor. Thomas pulled down six rebounds, five of which were offensive, and scored two points in those seven minutes. Pop smartly limited his minutes because the Spurs had been struggling to score with Thomas in the game against the Hornets, but Thomas was just a monster on the boards. Great effort.
-Pop coached a very good Game 7. He kept aggressive shooters on the court and was quick to call timeouts whenever the Hornets started gaining momentum. Most importantly, Pop had the team playing defense at an extremely high level, even though the Spurs were switching their defensive schemes several times per quarter.
Pop’s play call for Parker at the end of the game resulted in the game-clinching bucket. It would have been easy to call a play specifically for Duncan or Ginobili but Pop put trust in his young point guard and was rewarded.
The third quarter woes seemed to have been solved when Pop ordered fullcourt pressure to begin the second half. That defensive ploy got the blood flowing and the Spurs didn’t have the defensive breakdowns that have plagued them the last four times in New Orleans.
Early in Pop’s coaching career, especially in 1999, he was a good coach but he was mostly just along for the championship ride. Now, Pop is the driving force behind this team emotionally and on the court. His growth as a coach has allowed the Spurs to once again find themselves in the Western Conference Finals.
The bottomline is the Spurs just pulled out one of the biggest non-Finals wins in franchise history. It certainly wasn’t pretty but I’m not complaining. Fantastic win and this ride continues.
Great job, Spurs. I'm damn proud of all of you.
On to the next battle.
1.
Believe.
Well said.
i think this game showed the mettle of everyone. pop coached brilliantly, tony hits a clutch shot, horry emerges from his funk, manu put on his cape, timmy was steady, and udoka grew up. i agree with you, udoka has been the key. his rebounding offensively and defensively has been huge.
good series, now it's time for the lakers. there is no margin for error here.
GO SPURS GO
Nice recap.
Great post, LJ.
Man, this forum would have thrown Tim and Manu under the bus if they would have lost.
I didn't realize they shot so poorly to close out the game. Manu did a good job at the line though.
I knew there was a reason I like Ime so much. Elie was my favorite Spur when he was with SA.transformed into the reincarnation of Mario Elie right before our eyes
I just started a thread saying exactly what you just said about our role players.When talking Spurs, usually your sentences begin and end with the Big Three. Though in this game, the story was different. It was the role players – the same role players who have been called too old, too unathletic and simply not good enough – that won Game 7 for the Spurs. The role players scored 32 points, pulled down 30 rebounds and shot 12-for-23 from the field and 8-for-17 from three-point land. With the Big Three shooting a combined 34% from the floor, the Spurs simply would not have gotten it done without timely performances from the role players.
Last night it was all about them.
Congrats to the savvy veterans!
Even Reggie Miller said the Spurs bench blew him away with their effort last night. Thank goodness they were in the game b/c TD and Manu (except for his FTs) stunk up the joint in the second half.
I think last night was about all the Spurs. My husband, who couldn't watch the game until about the 4th quarter, asked me, "Who's been the hero?" I finally decided it was everyone.
And props especially to Pop, Udoka, Horry, and my favorite player of all time, Bruce Bowen. If it hadn't been for his defense on Peja, we wouldn't have come out of this series.
Ime Udoka is one tough s.o.b. He plays like he has ice water in his veins.
I haven't really been happy with Manu's game lately. He's been relying way too much on his 3 point shooting which for the most part he hasn't been successful and he's been making some really bad decisions. Luckily he hit his FT's though. I'm still waiting for him to have a good series and be SuperManu again. Our role players were awesome last night and really carried us. I've been very impressed Udoka and hope he can continue to play like he has. Tony was super clutch last night and hope he can continue to be.
Last edited by TMTTRIO; 05-20-2008 at 08:52 AM.
Unbelievable statistic. That was the most impressive thing about this win. None of the Big Three played particularly well and we still managed to grind out a victory.
Honestly I think alot of people here should be analyst or coach in some capacity with a team. I recall someone here saying that EXACT thing before this game about possibly going full-court in the 3rd qtr. That turned out to be a great idea!
Best recap of the season thus far.
It was an ugly stretch for them and they even showed a running clock of how long the spurs had gone scoring only 1 point.
Yeah, not exactly how you want your two closers to finish off a Game 7 ............. but I'll take the victory.
Orbeto's pass to Horry for the three was awesome. He is a very smart player. Thomas' offensive rebounds was a another huge key for the Spurs victory. I give huge props to Finley for answering the call when needed.
All of the above is credit to Pop for having these guys prepared. Those above-mentioned guys bought into the system and it showed last night.
I was particularly impressed with Udoka play and hustle.
Especially on offense, if he can keep defenses honest that allows going with him and Bowen at the same time on the flloor.
IIRC, at one time in the 3rd we had a small ball unit featuring Parker, Ginobilli, Bowen, Udoka and Duncan. That's some tough defense here.
I was also pleased with the effort TP was providing on defense. He was not only chasing Paul for most of the night but also mixing it inside with some timely double teams on Chandler or West.
Major props to:
Horry
Finley
Bowen
Udoka
Thomas
Oberto
Last edited by E20; 05-20-2008 at 09:22 AM. Reason: nkdlunch for remniding me
By game's end they looked mentally and physically exhausted. HUGE shot by Tony.
Yeah we've all been wanting Udoka to be the next Bowen so bad when he just isn't that.
If hes the next Mario Elie though, thats a great thing.
You see alot of similarities in Mario Elie in Ime Udoka.
Oberto was the biggest difference yesterday. He was playing the smartest basketball I've seen of him all season long. He was active, he was passing well, he was defending well. He just filled his role to perfection and thought he really set the tone for the Spurs throughout the game. He was very consistent for 48 minutes.
Oberto had sick passes. Thomas was a monster on the boards.
Actually, the play was called for Gino coming off a "wedge roll" and Pop intended for him to get to the line. TP was the 2nd option to penetrate if possible but when he saw Chandler sag he drilled the jumper. Ice cold.Pop’s play call for Parker at the end of the game resulted in the game-clinching bucket. It would have been easy to call a play specifically for Duncan or Ginobili but Pop put trust in his young point guard and was rewarded.
Edit:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...r.e4a2f3d.html
Pargo missed a 3-pointer that could have tied the score with 1:05 left. Tim Duncan snagged the rebound, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich signaled a play from the sidelines.
Parker was actually the second option on the play, but he ended up with the ball, and Popovich was fine with that.
“I ran ‘wedge roll’ for Manu,” Popovich said, “because I wanted him to get to the free-throw line, or get the ball to Tony because he’s got some real big guts. He’ll miss five shots in a row, but at the end of a game, he’ll take a shot and make it. He’s done it before.
“He came off that pick and just knocked it down. That took it from three (points) to five. I told the team: Biggest shot of the game.”
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